Police are seen at the office gate of Marion Biotech, a healthcare and pharmaceutical company and a part of the Emenox group, whose cough syrup has been linked to the death of children in Uzbekistan, in Noida. file | Photo Credit: Reuters
production license of Marion Biotech, a Noida-based pharmaceutical firmallegedly linked to Death of children in UzbekistanA drug official in Uttar Pradesh said on January 12 that the controversial cough syrup has been suspended while the results are awaited.
A team from central agencies and the Uttar Pradesh Department of Pharmaceuticals had on December 29 inspected the company’s office here and taken six more samples for testing.
During the inspection, the company’s representative could not produce documents related to the production of ‘Doc-1 Max’ cough syrup, which led to the government’s order. its production should be stopped immediatelyVaibhav Babbar, drug inspector of Gautam Buddh Nagar said.
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“The production license of the firm remains suspended, as ordered on 29th December. Now the suspension order has been issued in writing to the firm on 10th January and has been accepted by the firm,” informed Mr. Babbar. PTI,
On the status of test results, the official said the samples were taken by central agencies and their results are yet to come.
Marion Biotech did not sell cough syrup ‘Doc-1 Max’ in India and its only export was to Uzbekistan, Mr Babbar told PTI Earlier it was further estimated that the company had exported around 1 lakh syrups in 45 days.
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India’s central regulatory body for pharmaceuticals and medical devices, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), has launched a probe into the deaths of 18 children in Uzbekistan allegedly linked to Marion Biotech.
Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Health has claimed that 18 children had consumed cough syrup.
Hassan Harris, the legal representative of Marion Biotech, had earlier said that the governments of both the countries were looking into the matter.
The company had stopped production of cough syrup after the matter came to light.